Tag: research

Caroux and Isbister recently published a study on game HUDs (head-up displays) that examines user experience. Today we’ll take a closer look at this study and some general ideas concerning video game HUDs.

Like this:

The way I see it, video games can be a very good medium to tell stories. Since players are participating actively in driving the narrative forward. The online game Spent attempts to make use of this in a different manner, by placing us in the struggles of a person with low income in the US.

Like this:

Videos take a bit of time to create, who would have thought it?! Well, the consequence of this rather obvious fact is that I’ve been slightly delayed in publishing it, but here is what has been going on.

So I completed the Bioshock series – Infinite being the last of the three. And it is quite an amazing game! It does have its problems, actually the more you scrutinise the game the more issues are revealed. But most people tend to forgive the game for these flaws, simply because the overall experience is so good.

The game is in stark contrast to its two predecessors, which is a good thing! What I found most interesting was the lack of choice the game offers, compared to the two first games where we constantly have to decide the fates of other peoples lives. This made me think. About life and about choice. How we understand choice and how this makes us feel free, and what happens when we don’t feel free. This last point was illustrated really well in the game – the lack of freedom.

So, on Sunday I’ll be publishing a video post on this subject; Bioshock Infinite, the lack of choice and the idea of determinism in life. It was a heavy and complicated subject, so I hope the addition of a few visuals and my lovely voice will help!

Current Progress

The above picture is what it looks like at the moment. It’s a fun and challenging process putting such a video together, but thoroughly enjoyable watching it grow frame for frame.

That’s really all for now – gotta get back to editing! I hope you all check back on Sunday for the finished product, and any constructive criticism is of course welcome.

After many years of video game research being centred around the possible negative consequences of playing video games, recent times has seen a change with more positive affects from engaging with video games are discovered. A study from 2015 took a closer look at possible connections between playing sports video games, and engaging in real life sports.